Strategic Plan

U.S. Department of Justice Strategic Plan for 2018 - 2022

Analysis

Competitive Environment

Competitors

Direction

Mission

To enforce the law and defend the interests of the United States according to the law; to ensure public safety against threats foreign and domestic; to provide federal leadership in preventing and controlling crime; to seek just punishment for those guilty of unlawful behavior; and to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans.

Values

Honesty

Honesty and Integrity. DOJ adheres to the highest standards of ethical behavior, cognizant that, as custodians of public safety, its motives and actions must be beyond reproach.

Respect

Respect for the Worth and Dignity of Each Human Being. Those who work for the Department treat each other and those they serve with fairness, dignity, and compassion. They value differences in people and ideas. They are committed to the well-being of employees and to providing opportunities for individual growth and development.

Excellence

Commitment to Excellence. The Department seeks to provide the highest levels of service to the American people. DOJ is an effective and responsible steward of the taxpayers' dollars.

Justice

Equal Justice under the Law. Upholding the laws of the United States is the solemn responsibility entrusted to DOJ by the American people. The Department enforces these laws fairly and uniformly to ensure that all Americans receive equal protection and justice.

Goals

Terrorism & National Security

Goal Statement: Enhance National Security and Counter the Threat of Terrorism

Protecting national security and combating terrorism are priorities of the Department of Justice (DOJ). A key tenet of this objective is to ensure that law enforcement and intelligence agencies are able to use all available tools to investigate and prevent acts of terror. The Department combats each new threat by leveraging its workforce; reinforcing, refining, and institutionalizing the fusion of intelligence and law enforcement operations; and ensuring the use of the latest technology to achieve a coordinated response to terrorist threats. The Department recognizes that the most efficient and effective means of fighting terrorism is to communicate, coordinate, and cooperate with its partners, including foreign partners and multilateral organizations, to promote national security. The nation also faces an array of cyber threats to our national security and public safety. To counter these threats, the Department has adopted a comprehensive approach, using the full spectrum of its criminal and national security authorities and capabilities. The Department investigates, disrupts, and prosecutes large-scale data breaches and other serious cyber attacks. These attacks, by individuals, transnational cybercriminal organizations, terrorists, nation-state actors, and their proxies, deploy complex tools and capabilities. As technology evolves and our adversaries increase in sophistication, the Department's capabilities must evolve as well. This requires expanding our toolsets and investigative abilities to deter and disrupt those threats, and lawful and efficient information sharing among public and private sector partners.

Objectives:

• Cyber Threat Actors
• Terrorist Operations
• Partnerships
• Tools
• Identification, Disruption & Prosecution
• Unauthorized Disclosure
• Investigation & Prosecution
• Intelligence Sharing
• Espionage & Theft
• Disclosures & Insider Threats
• Cyber Threats
• Systems & Education

Borders & Immigration

Goal Statement: Secure the Borders and Enhance Immigration Enforcement and Adjudication

Border security, immigration enforcement, and immigration adjudication are priorities cutting across multiple government agencies. They are critically important to the national security of the United States. Illegal immigration presents a significant threat to national security and public safety. Securing our borders through enhanced immigration enforcement and adjudication ensures the safety and territorial integrity of the United States. The Department of Justice plays a key role in the Nation’s immigration enforcement and adjudication processes. Beyond DOJ, the immigration system is comprised of several other agencies, including the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS), State (DOS), Health and Human Services (HHS), and Labor (DOL). Together and in cooperation with partner agencies, DOJ components (1) secure the borders, and protect public safety and national security, through prioritizing criminal immigration enforcement; and (2) ensure an immigration system that respects the rule of law, protects the safety of U.S. citizens and legal aliens and serves the national interest.

Objectives:

• Unlawful Hiring
• Denaturalization
• Benefits Fraud
• Sanctuary Jurisdictions
• Criminal Immigration
• Prosecution
• Information Sharing
• Immigration System
• Information Sharing
• Adjudication

Violent Crime & Public Safety

Goal Statement: Reduce Violent Crime and Promote Public Safety

The next several years will be a critical time in the Department’s crime reduction efforts. Between 2014 and 2016, the violent crime rate rose faster than it has in 25 years. The country also saw the highest increase in the homicide rate in 49 years. In 2016, there were more than 17,000 murders in the United States, which is an increase of 20 percent in just two years. Gang membership and gang activity is also increasing, including criminal activity associated with foreign-based criminal organizations, such as MS-13. Intentional, targeted assaults on law enforcement officers have been increasing, heightening operational safety risks. Hate crimes data and reports indicated an increase in bias motivated violent crime, and we are identifying and prosecuting more human trafficking cases than ever before. Collectively, these developments further complicate the already substantial challenges that law enforcement agencies face in executing their public safety mission. The Department will use the tools at its disposal to address these troubling trends. There is strong evidence that collaborative and targeted enforcement efforts are effective in combatting crime and saving lives. Accordingly, the Department’s agents, analysts, professional staff, and prosecutors work together with State, local, and tribal partners to focus our powerful investigative and enforcement tools and technologies against the offenders who most threaten the safety and security of our communities. The Department’s grant-making components supply communities with critical assistance to advance their violent crime reduction efforts and to assist victims. Every effort will be made to ensure that victims are taken into consideration throughout the criminal justice process and that they are provided a voice during the investigation and prosecution of their case. In these ways, the Department will lead the way toward prosecuting violent offenders, deterring further crime, protecting victims, and empowering our law enforcement and community partners to take back our streets. Finally, pursuant to Section 2 of the President’s Executive Order on Enforcing Federal Law with Respect to Transnational Criminal Organizations and Preventing International Trafficking (Executive Order) signed on February 9, 2017, the Department will "enhance cooperation with foreign counterparts against transnational criminal organizations and subsidiary organizations, including, where appropriate and permitted by law, through sharing of intelligence and law enforcement information and through increased security sector assistance to foreign partners by the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security."

Objectives:

• Awareness & Demand
• Communities
• Violence
• Enforcement
• Victims
• Crime, Communities & Victims
• Criminal Organizations & Gangs
• Networks
• Drug Trafficking

Law, Integrity & Governance

Goal Statement: Promote Rule of Law, Integrity, and Good Government

The solemn duty of the Department of Justice is to uphold the Constitution and laws of the United States so that all Americans can live in peace and security. As the chief law enforcement agency of the United States government, the Department of Justice’s most fundamental mission is to protect people by enforcing the rule of law. To achieve its mission, the Department is committed to fair and impartial administration of justice. The Department also seeks to ensure accountability, transparency, and stewardship of the public fisc in the exercise of its statutory authorities. By upholding the law and respecting the Constitution, the Department serves as a leader for its federal, state, local, tribal, and international partners.

Objectives:

• Regulation by Guidance
• Cost Cap
• Technology
• Management
• Regulatory Reform
• Religion
• Justice
• Conduct
• Two-for-One
• Workforce
• Civil Enforcement
• Fraud, Waste & Abuse
• Ethics & Financial Disclosure
• Illicit Markets
• First Amendment
• Financial Reports
• Litigation Practices
• Title IX Recipients
• Litigation